Savannah Danse Theatre presents down-home Nutcracker of its own

A scene from "The Nutcracker in Savannah" with special guest Stratton Leopold.

The Savannah Danse Theatre’s annual holiday production is a Nutcracker with a difference.

“It is ‘The Nutcracker in Savannah,’” says Abby McCuen, the company manager. “We call it that because it takes place in Savannah in the 1940s.”

This year’s performances are set for Nov. 24. Special guest performers will include Hollywood producer and local businessman Stratton Leopold and award-winning singer Kim Michael Polote. “It takes place at a big soiree in downtown Savannah,” McCuen says. “Everyone likes to be local, and that is what we pride ourselves on.”

This Savannah Danse Theatre received a grant from the Georgia Council for the Arts this year for an outreach program. “We feel we got that because we are good for the economy of Savannah and the economy of Georgia,” McCuen says.

Established in 1998 by artistic director Suzanne Braddy, the Savannah Danse Theatre is the ballet company of the Islands Dance Academy. The company currently has three artists-in-residence: Chelsea Prych of the Columbus Dance Theatre in Ohio; Heather Maze, a graduate of the North Carolina School of the Arts; and Elizabeth Fuller of the Ruth Mitchell Dance Theatre in Atlanta.

The company’s guest choreographer is Julia Moisseeva. “She is from the Kremlin Ballet,” McCuen says. “This is our fourth year working with her.”

The cast features 65 local dancers. “It takes place at the historic Lucas Theatre, which really sets the tone for this beautiful ballet,” McCuen says. “We have beautiful costumes.”

Because of the grant, the Savannah Danse Theatre is doing outreach in the community. “We reached out to another dance academy at Notre Dame Academy, and some of their students will play soldiers in the epic fight scene,” McCuen says.

“These are kids who have never been on stage,” she says. “It’s been really exciting to watch.”

The company does two school shows every year. “We reached out to some Title I schools, lower income schools, and provided them with free tickets for the show,” McCuen says.

“A lot of schools don’t get to go on field trips,” she says. “We had several donors who came through and provided us with buses so they could come.

“A lot of these kids have never seen a ballet before,” McCuen says. “If one of them goes home and does research, we’ve done our job. We want to inspire the next generation.”